Hilarious, irreverent and unique

Immaculate, being staged at St James Cavalier by Theatre Anon, is a black comedy of misconceived conceptions that deals with religion, relationships and responsibilities.

Following last summer’s success with Ospizio, Theatre Anon is back with Immaculate – a smart, sassy and sexy comedy that will prove to be a different offering from the company than what audiences are used to.

One fine day Mia, a professional mistress/part-time dominatrix, finds out that she is pregnant after not having had sex for 10 months. She barely has a moment to allow this rather startling discovery to sink in when she is visited in quick succession by first the Angel Gabriel and then Lucifer himself who turn up on her doorstep laying a claim to the yet-unborn baby.

Theatre Anon was attracted to the script due to its highly comical and irreverent take on the issues it tackles. And yet, some valid and thought-provoking points are made via its extremely funny and satirical dialogue.

Immaculate is directed by Polly March and the cast includes Stefan Cachia Zammit, Charlotte Grech, Alan Montanaro, Denise Mulholland, Alan Paris and Paul Portelli.

Ms March says that author, Oliver Lansley, has created a hugely enjoyable, irreverent take on some quite tricky subjects. She says that her cast is certainly doing the script justice.

“What a great bunch of actors! They have thrown themselves into this with gusto – it’s very much an ensemble piece and they are all throwing ideas in, which is always such a wonderful thing for a director. My job is mostly directing traffic really, and reining in the madder ideas. So rehearsals are a huge pleasure with a lot of laughter. Because they are all so very good at their jobs, the characters are taking shape and in spite of the laughter, the work is serious and very demanding. Comedy is so much harder than a straight play and you sweat buckets getting it right,” she says.

Practically all the actors I spoke to used the phrases “laugh-out-loud” and “laugh-a-minute” when describing the script.

Charlotte Grech, who plays Mia, said that the action changes gear constantly, with lots of funny lines in between: “It is going to be a real challenge to keep a straight face, ignore my fellow actors’ antics – and try to act! It is an intelligent, witty and very funny script, which also asks some very valid questions. Asthmatics are advised to bring their inhalers!”

Alan Montanaro plays the nerdy Gary Goodman, who has been in love with Mia since their schooldays. Mr Montanaro describes him as “a socially inept person who doesn’t know he’s such” and says that anybody who fancies a clever comedy from a contemporary playwright should love this one. Denise Mulholland plays Mia’s highly-strung best friend Rebecca, whom she describes as “not the brightest penny in the piggy bank”. She says that Rebecca is very funny – a real butterfly brain with a habit of shooting off at ridiculous tangents.

“I am enjoying the challenge of creating a ‘ditzy’ character,” Ms Mulholland says. “My biggest challenge in the play is a monologue in Act 2 which on paper looks as if it would last about six minutes... in fact it should last about two, since it has to be gabbled at an incredible rate! There is barely time to take a breath and I have to keep it comprehensible while rabbiting at the speed of light!”

In Immaculate, Alan Paris gets to play the devil himself – Lucifer while Paul Portelli plays the Archangel Gabriel. Although their characters are obviously on opposing sides in the play, both actors are on the same page when speaking of the play itself, telling me that it is “fast-paced and loaded with laugh lines”, “hilarious, wicked and not pretentious at all” and simply “very, very funny”.

• Immaculate is being staged at St James Cavalier on March 11-13 and March 18-20. Tickets may be obtained by phone on 2122 3200 or e-mail: bookings@sjcav.org. More information may be obtained online: www.theatreanon.com. Immaculate is rated 18.